Wednesday, June 18, 2014

So we're back to Greece today. We're in
Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Today’s veranda view shows the
harbour entrance, with the morning ferry just arriving.

More about Mytilene in a moment, first
we have to tell you about last night. We ate in a different
restaurant. It was a smaller, more intimate place, and they served
fifteen courses. Perhaps I should explain. There were really only
five courses, but each contained three sub-courses, a bite or two
big. It was an excellent meal, with great service, but the
“entertainment” left a lot to be desired, Particularly the sound
quality. After dinner we headed down to the show lounge (aka theatre)
where we saw the “Crew Show”. Really, the crew put on a show one
night per cruise, And some of them were really good.

Now back to today. It was hot, up in
the high eighties, but we decided to be brave and venture out. The
ship was at anchor, so we took the tender ashore,

The town was rather manic with lots of
traffic, and hundreds of mopeds and scooters. Also, they have high
kerbs and they don't do ramps or dropped kerbs so we stayed on the
waterfront.

Tonight is a formal night, the farewell
reception. It's held a day before the final night,because it's formal
dress, and by tomorrow night everyone will have packed. After the
reception will be dinner, then back to the show lounge for the Abba
night. Really.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Today we're in Kusadasi and the veranda
view shows the causeway to the castle.

Kusadasi is in Turkey, though it's not
obvious. The older part of the town is a sort of reasonably good
quality coastal resort with boutique hotels and rental apartments.
Get outside the old town and it's English Bars & Fish 'n' Chips.

The there is the cruise terminal. Today
there were four ships in. Ours with 390 passengers, one from Louis
with about 1000, then two from Carnival Lines with 3,500 and 4,000
respectively.

Now, this is the nearest port to the
ruins of Ephesus, which is where just about everyone wanted to go. We
decided to give it a miss, and instead took a walk along the front
and along the causeway to the castle, which is now a night club. It's
a very nice place, but there's nothing Turkish about it. It could be
the front in Palma, or Mahon or a dozen other places. Not that we're
complaining. Just being here is more than enough for us. There's more
than enough on the ship to keep us happy. And speaking of the ship,
here's a better view.

Monday, June 16, 2014

A new day and a new country, Turkey.
We're in Mamaris, which is in truth for the most part a typical
Mediterranean seaside resort. Today’s veranda view shows part of
the harbour, which is made of of private yachts, charter boats, and
two cruise ships, ours and one belonging to Thompson.

The waterfront is well appointed and
very clean. We walked along past all the charter boats, offering
anything from a three day charter to a two hour booze cruise. The
market is another matter. We were told by the local rep that the
market was “not as aggressive as Istanbul”. So we won't be going
to the one in Istanbul. Most of the shops were selling leather or
jewellery, and most were fakes. Some even advertised “Genuine Fake
Goods”. And you had to avoid eye contact, because a moments
weakness meant you were instantly under pressure to buy. Not a nice
place.

We were back on the ship shortly after
mid-day, and not long after that it was time for lunch.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Another day, another country. Today
we're in Santorini, which is in Greece. Today's veranda view shows
whitewashed buildings at the top if a vertical cliff. Which just
about sums up most of the island.

Very beautiful, but also
frustratingly inaccessible.

First of all the local “Boatmen Union
Of Santorini” insist that you have to use their local tenders to
get ashore. These are of a much lower quality than the ship's own
tenders, and access is not very good for anyone using crutches and a
wheelchair.

They take you to the “Old Port” and
then getting up to cliff is a bit of a problem too.

There are three
ways. A funicular railway with no wheelchair access, a donkey ride
(donkeys are not noted for having wheelchair ramps and step-free
access) or climbing an enormous set of steps. And to make matters
worse, we weren't the only cruise ship in town.

Ours is small, but
this one is enormous, so there were huge crowds everywhere. We heard
that yesterday was even worse with five ships anchored and 9,000
people going ashore. To put this is perspective, the population of
Santorini is only 7,000.

So we stayed on board. The pool deck
was quiet all morning, and only began to fill up as people returned
from their shore excursions, telling horror stories about the
experience. So a lazy day, drinking Pimms by the pool, followed by
lunch, then back to our suite for a couple of hours before cocktails
in the bar and then dinner. It's a hard life ...

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Today is a day at sea so today's
veranda view isn't terribly exciting.

We're in the Ionian Sea, about 100
miles south of the mainland of Greece. It's warm, about 80f and
there's nowhere to go so the pool deck is crammed. So we're sitting
in the panorama lounge, looking out over the stern of the ship where
it's cool and quiet.

This morning we had some of those “only
on a cruise ship” events. First of all there was an edition of
“Ready Steady Cook” between the Cruise Director (in charge of
entertainment) and the Restaurant Manager. Then we went to the bar
for a talk on the history of the martini, complete with
demonstrations, and of course, tastings.

Tonight we have a cocktail reception to
attend, followed by dinner with one of the ships officers, then off
to the show lounge for a Night At The Opera.

Friday, June 13, 2014

It's Friday, which means we are in
Messina, which is in northern Sicily. We were up and about before the
ship docked today, so the Veranda View is of the Straits of Messina.
Italy to the left, Sicily to the right and just a 3km gap between.

So what did we do today ?

We visited Mount Etna. Now, some of you
may think it a little foolish to go visiting a live volcano (Which
last erupted in 11991) on Friday the 13th, but we
survived. We were looking into the crater of one of the earlier
eruptions when there was a huge clap of thunder. “Don't worry”
said the guide, “It's not the volcano”.

It really is an amazing sight. Long
runs of old lave flows. Sometimes the road has been built through
them. And some end up in the villages further down the mountain. Well
worth the effort.

We're at sea all day tomorrow,and back
at a new destination on Sunday.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Well, it's Wednesday, and we're in SORRENTO. We're actually at anchor in the Bay of Naples, and this is today's Veranda View.

Actually I'm getting a little ahead of the story as when you last heard, we were still at Newcastle airport. Our flight to London was uneventful, if a little delayed. A lot of people missed connections as a result. Fortunately we were flying out to Rome the following day, so apart from having to be up before 5am on Tuesday, we were fine. The flight to Rome was fine, and business class travel is much more relaxing. So is the food. We had the choice of a cooked or continental breakfast. The people in pleb class got a croissant and a drink.

So we got to Rome and wonder of wonders, all three suitcases made it intact. Even Wizzy, Marie's wheelchair was delivered right to the aircraft door. Well done BA, you're getting better. Then there was a slight hitch. When there are a lot of people joining a cruise, a minibus is provided, and when there are a few, a “van” as SilverSea call it, is used. This is a sort of people carrier, usually a boxy Mercedes one. Unfortunately, Marie has difficulty getting in to them, and last time resulted in much pain and loss of dignity. So we had arranged for a proper car, a large one at that. However, unlike the Vauxhall estate used by Station Taxis at the start of our journey, the Mercedes used in Rome couldn't accommodate two people, one Wizzy and three cases. After much trying, the cases were unloaded and out on the bus, and we were driven to the port, a journey of about thirty miles.

Now like most big cities, the port isn't the prettiest place, as you can see.

And as you might expect we arrived well ahead of our luggage. In the end it arrived, and here's one of our cases being loaded on to the ship.

Once we were settled in, everything was just perfect. We had cocktails on the pool deck last night while meeting the entertainment staff, then dinner in the restaurant. Marie had a manicure this morning, and then we had lunch by the pool.

We're staying overnight at Sorrento, so I'll tell you all about the ship next time.

Monday, June 09, 2014

Well, here we are again. It's that time of year, the time when the BOGOF household take off an their holiday cruise. I'm writing this in the wonderful oasis of quiet that is the BA Executive lounge at Newcastle airport. We're off to Heathrow tonight, then on to Rome tomorrow to meet the ship. If you want to know where we go from there, keep checking back and follow our adventures !!

Of course this is my first holiday where I didn't have to take time off work as I'm now a retired person. That meant a whole week to get everything ready, instead of cramming all the preparations into two days. That's a definite plus, as is plenty of time to unwind when we get home.

All in all, this retirement business has lots to recommend it. If you were to ask me what it's like, I would find it hard to explain, having no point of reference. I can say it's WAY better than working for a living. I don't miss that one little bit. And of course if either I or Marie has a doctors appointment, or we need to go shopping, or anything else, we can go whenever we like or whenever we can. On the down side, sometimes it's hard to remember what day of the week it is, but other that that, it's great.